Void Hand, Silencing and Clues

Within the abandoned monastery's underground ritual chamber, the atmosphere had frozen solid. Flickering lightning cast the twisted runes on the walls into alternating light and shadow, while the air reeked of scorching, blood, and lingering residues of occult energy.

Lin Ye's gaze bore down tangibly on the elderly man who had collapsed coughing blood. The remaining Inheritors members who could still move cowered in the corners, not daring to make the slightest move. Before absolute force, any flashy occult arts appeared pale and powerless.

"My patience is limited." Lin Ye's voice was not loud, yet it carried an authority that made souls tremble. "You recorded my energy frequency and tried to repair the Void Hand. What was your purpose? What is that thing for? Where is your headquarters? Who is behind all this?"

The old man clutched his chest and coughed violently, blood seeping through his fingers. He raised his head, his hood slipping down to reveal a face covered in wrinkles and strange tattoos. Fear, unwillingness, and a trace of stubborn fanaticism interwove in his eyes.

"Hmph, Thunder, you truly are powerful—far beyond imagination." The old man's voice was hoarse. "But you have no idea what you are facing. The power of the Void Hand is far beyond your comprehension. It is the key to ultimate truth."

"Ultimate truth?" Lin Ye sneered. "You mean turning yourselves into neither human nor ghost, or hiding like rats in dark corners to perform shameful rituals?"

The old man's face turned livid.

Just then, a younger member nearby seemed unable to bear the pressure any longer and cried out in collapse, "I'll talk! I'll talk! We only wanted to repair the holy artifact, open a stable 'door,' and explore more—"

"Shut up, idiot!" The old man abruptly turned his head and snarled. At the same time, the hand hidden beneath his sleeve made an extremely covert hand seal!

Pop!

The young member's head exploded like an overripe watermelon! Red and white matter splattered over those beside him! The headless corpse swayed, then toppled to the ground.

The other members were terrified out of their wits and fell utterly silent.

Lin Ye's eyes narrowed. He clearly sensed an exceptionally hidden energy connection between the old man and the young member. The old man had instantly detonated some sort of restriction planted in the other man beforehand!

What a ruthless method! He showed no mercy even to his own people!

"It seems you all have similar 'insurance' placed on you." Lin Ye looked at the old man, his gaze turning colder. "But it will not work on me."

His figure moved, and he instantly appeared before another member who had collapsed limply to the floor in terror. A finger wreathed in lightning pressed directly against the man's brow!

Soul Barrier: Suppress!

A gentle yet resilient current of lightning energy instantly flowed into the man's mind. It was not as brutal as a soul search; instead, it formed a temporary protective layer, cutting off internal and external energy connections while stabilizing his mind, which was on the verge of collapse.

"Now, speak," Lin Ye ordered.

The member felt the calm within his mind, then saw the old man's vicious but helpless gaze. The old man could no longer trigger the restriction because Lin Ye's lightning barrier had cut off the activation signal. At last, his desire to survive overcame his fear of the organization.

"It... it was the Void Hand! It is an ancient glove-shaped holy artifact. They say it can stabilize and tear apart space, opening stable passages to... to other dimensions. It can even... even extract the source energy of dimensions!" he blurted out incoherently. "It has been damaged for a long time. The masters said... said that extremely powerful and pure special energy was needed to activate its core runes... Your lightning power met the requirements..."

"The headquarters... we do not know where it is! We are only outer-circle stewards. Every mission instruction comes through the Mirror Shadow Technique, and the locations are always different."

"The leaders are... several 'occult masters.' We have never seen their real faces... We only know their codenames... Hermit, High Priestess, Hanged Man..."

He revealed quite a bit in fits and starts, but the core information remained limited. Clearly, the Inheritors' organizational structure was extremely tight, and its lower-ranking members knew very little.

Lin Ye looked at the old man. "What about you? You should know more than he does, right?"

The old man's face was ashen as he glared fiercely at the traitor, unable to silence him because of Lin Ye's isolation barrier. He gritted his teeth and said, "Kill me! I will say nothing! For ultimate truth!"

"Ultimate truth?" Lin Ye cut him off. Lightning gathered at his fingertips once more. This time, it contained a trace of the Soul Barrier's technique, aimed directly at the old man's consciousness. "Let me see what your so-called truth really is!"

He did not intend to search the man's soul, which might directly destroy his consciousness. Instead, he intended to use overwhelming mental pressure and the deterrent force of lightning to forcibly smash through his psychological defenses!

The old man's body shook violently, and intense struggle filled his eyes, as though something were about to be forcibly dragged from his mind! Strange clicking sounds came from his throat, and veins bulged across his forehead!

Just as he seemed about to give in—

Bzzzzz!!!

The entire monastery ruin suddenly shook violently! Every rune carved into the walls lit up with blinding purple-black light at once, as though remotely activated by some force!

A cold, ethereal voice, as if countless voices overlapped into one, rang out from nowhere in the room and echoed directly within everyone's minds:

"Useless trash, return to the embrace of the void."

"Not good!" Lin Ye instantly sensed a vast and evil will descending from afar, targeting every surviving Inheritors member! This was a long-distance extermination command based on soul connections!

He immediately intensified the output of Soul Barrier, trying to protect the captive in his grasp as well as the few members nearby!

But he was still a step too late!

Apart from the captive whom Lin Ye's lightning barrier was specifically protecting, every other member, including the old man, had their eyes instantly filled with purple-black light. Their bodies rapidly shriveled and carbonized as though all moisture had been drained from them, before finally turning into heaps of ash that scattered away! Even their soul fluctuations were completely annihilated, as if they had never existed at all!

The captive protected by Lin Ye did not physically collapse, but he still let out a shrill scream. Blood poured from his seven orifices, his mind suffered severe trauma, and he fainted.

Remote silencing! So decisive and thorough!

Lin Ye's expression darkened slightly. The other side had reacted too quickly, and their methods were too ruthless. This undoubtedly showed that the Inheritors' core echelon not only possessed powerful occult arts but also held absolute control over their subordinates. Once the risk of capture was discovered, they immediately erased them without hesitation.

He examined the unconscious captive. His vital signs were weak, and his mind was on the brink of collapse. Even if he could be saved, he likely would not be able to reveal anything more.

"Remy, scan the entire ruin. Prioritize the unfinished 'door' and all residual energy. Try to reverse-track the origin of that remote force."

"Scanning. The miniature spatial gate has completely collapsed due to the energy interruption... Residual energy points to multiple relay nodes. The final signal source vanished above the Sahara Desert. Precise location impossible."

"The Sahara Desert..." Lin Ye committed the information to memory. The other side had clearly come prepared; tracking them would be extraordinarily difficult.

His gaze fell upon the pile of ash on the ground and the unconscious captive.

"I underestimated them," Lin Ye muttered. This organization was far more troublesome and dangerous than he had expected.

Although he had not obtained the most critical intelligence, it was not a total loss. At least he now knew of the Void Hand's existence and function, knew that they urgently needed his energy, and knew the codenames of several so-called occult masters, as well as the possible lead pointing toward the Sahara Desert.

"Repairing the Void Hand, opening stable dimensional passages, extracting source energy." Lin Ye considered the information. "That does not sound like mere research. It sounds more like they are planning something much bigger."

He had the feeling that he had inadvertently stumbled upon a massive conspiracy in the making.

"Remy, clean up the scene. Take this captive back to the temple's medical pod and do everything possible to treat him. At the same time, increase global monitoring priority for the keywords 'Inheritors,' 'Void Hand,' 'Hermit,' 'High Priestess,' and 'Hanged Man.'"

"Command executed."

Lightning swept up the unconscious captive. Lin Ye gave the ruins, now returned to dead silence, one final glance before his figure turned into a streak of electricity and vanished.

This hunt had captured a source of information, but it had also alerted the enemy, revealing a more vicious and resolute side of them.

The coming confrontation would likely not be so simple.

Meanwhile, deep within the distant Sahara Desert, beneath the ruins of an oasis concealed by a powerful illusion, stood a grand hall built entirely of obsidian.

Three figures sat high upon separate stone thrones, their bodies shrouded in distorted light that concealed their faces.

One of them slowly spoke, its voice the same cold overlapping voice from before:

"Thunder is more troublesome than expected. He found the Norway stronghold and even tried to pry into our secrets."

"No matter." A more languid female voice rang out. "The repair of the Void Hand has entered its final stage. We only need one last 'catalyst'—his power. We are determined to obtain it."

"Speed up the process," said a third, deep voice. "The Fool's prophecy is coming true. The gateway is about to open. We cannot miss this opportunity."

"Then prepare a grand gift for him," the overlapping voice said coldly. "Make him willingly deliver his power to our doorstep."

Cold, calculating laughter echoed through the dark hall.

(End of Chapter 32)